The story of post war German helicopter development started with the man who began it all during the war, Heinrich Focke. When he returned to Germany in 1950 after working for the French, he began working at the Borgward company, producing the BFK-1 and BFK-2 Kolibri, which flew in 1952 and 1953 respectively. While working for Borgward, Heinrich Focke also chaired the Deutsche Studiengemeinschaft Hubschrauber (DSH), or the German Helicopter Research Association alongside Dr. Walter Just, a former employee of Focke. Borgward’s main focus however was on automobiles, and seeing a distinct lack of interest in the BFK series, dropped support.

This was when Focke met Karl Erwin Merckle. An aviation entrepreneur, Merckle had contacted an aspiring engineer with the name of Walther Schlieske. Schlieske had dreams about a “People’s Helicopter”, a flying car for the new age affordable by all. This People’s Helicopter supposedly is to cost only a mere 5000 Marks, have a speed of 150km/h and can be operated by children. The former fighter pilot and RLM engineer had arranged a deal with Merckle before Focke stepped in and chased him away, the godfather of the industry having seen through his lack of credentials. Schlieske continued to swindle companies with his design, having amassed 180,000 marks before finally being arrested on charges of fraud.

Focke helped Merckle get his company off the ground with his connections, registering in Oedheim under the name Merckle-Focke Flugzeugwerke GmbH. Together, Focke alongside Walter Just and his plucky duo of engineering students Kurt Pfleiderer and Emil Weiland, managed to design and fly the MF 67 by 1955. The Bundeswehr at the time had taken interest in the design, and ordered 12 prototypes as well as granting 10 million Marks to Merckle-Focke for the development of the MF 67.

Merckle-Focke MF 67 Reiher

The MF 67 Reiher is a light helicopter, originally powered by a single Turbomeca Artouste, later variants of the MF 67 utilises uprated Daimler Benz engines based on the Artouste. Carrying a pilot and 4 passengers, the MF 67 is utilised in the Bundeswehr as both a tactical light transport as well as a scout helicopter with photo reconnaissance pods and armed with anti tank missiles and Mauser machine guns. The MF 67 Reiher entered service in 1957 with the Bundeswehr in both the standard MF 67B variant and the MF 67C anti-tank/scout helicopter variant.

Merckle-Focke MF 101 Albatros

The next Merckle-Focke product that would enter production would be the MF 101 Albatros. Design started in 1957 with a 12 million Marks grant from the Italian government and in collaboration with the Italian helicopter firm Agusta, the MF 101 is a heavy lift tactical helicopter, designed to ferry 26 troops or over 3 tons in cargo (most equivalent to the Sea King/CH-53). The MF 101 comes in 2 initial production variant, the MF 101G standard variant as well as the MF 101K, which is a crane helicopter designed exclusively for oversized underslung cargo. The MF 101G entered service with the Bundeswehr in 1963, and 1964 for the MF 101K.

Bölkow Bo 105

The 2nd player in the German helicopter scene would be Bölkow. While Merckle-Focke was winning German and Italian contracts, Bölkow had not sat idle. The Bölkow Bo 105A would take flight in 1963 and entering service as a utility/multipurpose helicopter in 1965. The Bo 105 would be subjected to multiple improvements throughout its lifetime, gaining a hingeless rotor system (first of its kind) in 1970. The Marineflieger would operate the Bo 105 as an ASW/Utility/Search and Rescue platform in large numbers, but beyond military use the Bo 105 is also expecting widespread civil applications.

Bölkow Bo 107

In 1961 the BMVg (Ministry of Defence) would place a tender for procurement of a medium lift helicopter, serving the tactical lift niche below the MF 101 Albatros, similar to the UH-1 Iroquois in the US. The winner of this program would be, beating out Dornier’s more complex and expensive 3 engine P.346 or Merckle-Focke’s downsized Albatros MF 105. Powered by a single large 1,200hp turboshaft by MAN Turbo, the Bo 107 can carry up to 1.8 tons of cargo or roughly 15 passengers at a cruise speed of over 200km/h. The Bo 107 would also be retrofitted with Bölkow’s patented hingeless rotor system for a dash speed of over 240km/h.

Dornier Do 41

In 1964 the BMVg would give out a request for proposals for a Bewaffneter Begleithubschrauber design (armed escort helicopter), designed to escort transport helicopters as well as destroy other helicopters and armoured formations. Merckle-Focke, Dornier and Bölkow. Dornier and Bölkow would be the finalists with Dornier winning the tender, partly for industrial reasons, as they have not had a single large helicopter order. The Do 41 itself (P.410) would have merits of its own however. A narrow tandem seat design with a pusher arrangement and utilising a pusher tail/long wing configuration, the Do 41 is capable of reaching a cruise speed of 450km/h with a range of 620km. Equipped with a Mauser turreted Gatling gun underneath the fuselage, with additional hardpoints for missiles, rockets and bombs on the wing. The Do 41 is also road/rail mobile when disassembled in a 11.4m long wagon, capable of being reassembled within an hour for rapid deployment. The Do 41 will enter service with the Bundeswehr in 1970.

Dornier Do 46

In the early 60s (M: sources did not say when >:() the BMVg issues a requirement for a crane helicopter capable of lifting up to 40 tons. Such was the magnitude of the engineering challenge that only Dornier would take it upon themselves to deliver a product. As described by the chief engineer of the P.406 project that would lead to the Do 46:

“In appearance, the Do P.406 resembled other rotary cranes such as the Sikorsky S-64. The four long landing gear legs were covered with stabilizing surfaces, which served to stabilize the rotary crane at high speeds. The rotor design followed the already proven hot-cycle tip jet established by the Dornier Do 32. The advantage being that no tail rotor or rotor moving in the opposite direction is necessary, since this propulsion system does not produce counter torque. There are no shafts, gears, couplings, or freewheel required. The lower weight of the drive system resulted in a very favorable additional load relationship. The drive system would consist of three turbines, each with 18,000 HP, whose thrust gases were channeled by the thermally insulated hollow rotor mast, over the rotor head and down the thermally insulated rotor blades to the thrust nozzles at the blade tips, so they could be converted without major losses at the blade tip jets in thrust. Another smaller rear fan was intended for stabilization yaw control in hovering flight. Altogether the helicopter would have had a maximum take-off weight of over 80 tonnes deadweight and payload. Between the landing gear legs standard containers could be attached or a cable could be used to hang external loads.”

The Do 46 when entering service in 1973, will be the largest helicopter in the world with a takeoff weight of up to 80 tons. Subject to much public fanfare, the Do 46 has garnered a mythical status even right now during its research and development phase, with a large portion of the Bundeswehr R&D budget being dedicated to delivering this beast into service. While operationally the Bundeswehr may not have many uses for it, the Do 46 will serve as a statement product, highlighting the progress of the German helicopter industry and stamping Germany’s place as the world’s pre-eminent rotary wing power.